Another day, another VO2 max session.
Workout #5 of 6 in the Zwift Spring Training series saw us taking on the VO2 Blast workout, best described (as ever) by WhatsOnZwift:
This was a tough session, perhaps only made easier by it being (relatively) short. At just 45 minutes, including a 10 minute progressive warm up, and a 5 minute cool down, technically we were only working hard for 12 minutes today.
But those 12 minutes were hard work.
Each of the six intervals got harder and harder. By the time we reached the fifth interval, the starting point was at the same intensity of the end of the first interval.
That said, they all felt pretty taxing.
Each of them, for me, started the same. For the first 30 seconds it felt fine enough. The second thirty seconds I was feeling it. By 60 seconds in, I was ready for it to end, and the final minute took a concerted effort to see it through.
I tried my best to chat and have a laugh with other riders, mostly to take my mind off the hard work. And that helped actually. There were a few people up for a bit of a laugh, so that made things easier.
I was definitely grateful that this session was 2 minutes on, 3 minutes off. The other way round would have made it absolutely killer.
That said, at the end the on-screen prompt suggested a way to make it harder still, which I feel I definitely didn’t need. It did make me think though: who would even be the target for that? I’m guessing Zwift, like all things in life, exhibits the 80/20 rule, such that 80% of their user base is not trying to become a world champion. Pushing beyond that session didn’t seem to serve that much of a purpose for a regular adult, in my humble opinion.
Overall then, a solid and truly taxing workout. I felt like this one pushed me, which is nice.
I’m a little sad that next week’s installment is the final workout in this series. It means I’ll need to look for another set of structured workouts to keep my schedule nice and busy. These ones have been perfect when it comes to getting in a workout and still having time left over for some food.
